The UW offers scholarships in everything from academic pursuits and research activities to community service and musical talents. You are considered for some scholarship programs automatically as part of your admission or financial aid applications, while others are available through departments once you are enrolled as a student.

The Office of Student Financial Aid

The Financial Aid Scholarship Services Office awards several hundred scholarships each year to undergraduates who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and financial need and who are residents of Washington state. To be eligible for consideration, students must be admitted to the UW for autumn quarter of the academic year and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA) by the priority filing date of January 15. A separate application is not required, but some students will be asked to provide additional information later in the review process.

The UW does not provide financial aid or scholarships to undergraduate international students. Not sure if you’re an international student? Let us help.

Freshman scholarships

Presidential Scholar

The Presidential Scholarship is a $10,000 award given to selected Washington residents who show exceptional leadership, community engagement and promise. It is renewable for up to four years. Washington residents are considered automatically with their application to the UW.

Purple & Gold

The Purple & Gold Scholarship is awarded to U.S. students (U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees and undocumented residents) who are not residents of Washington state. Amounts vary by recipient, are given for four years and may be used only for the Seattle campus.

This scholarship is awarded with the following conditions:

Recipients are not now, and nor will they become, residents of the state of Washington for the four-year duration of the award.

Recipients will confirm their intention to enroll at the UW for autumn quarter by May 1 of the year they wish to enroll. May 1 is the National Candidate Reply Date.

Recipients will enroll as full-time students, defined as a minimum of 12 credits per quarter for three quarters of the academic year.

The scholarship is renewable for four years as long as recipients maintain good academic standing.

The scholarship may not be deferred.

Note: Students admitted to UW Academy are not eligible for the Purple & Gold Scholarship.

UW Diversity Scholarship

The UW Diversity Scholarship for Freshmen is privately supported by the generous contributions of many individuals, organizations and local businesses, including Costco and Boeing. It awards $10,000 per year for four years to high-achieving high-need students who are entering the UW as freshmen from communities that are traditionally underserved in education.

Part of an underserved group such as youth in foster care, historically underrepresented minority students, and students who are the first in their family to pursue a college degree.

To be considered, students are encouraged to file the FAFSA/WASFA as soon after October 1 as possible, but before January 15. Students whose admission applications indicate that they may meet the scholarship criteria will be reviewed automatically – no additional application is needed. Eligible students will be notified in March.

Transfer scholarships

Martin Family Foundation Scholarship programs

The Martin Family Foundation supports the Martin Achievement Scholarship and the Martin Family Foundation Honors Scholarship. Both are designed to enable exceptional students of Washington community colleges to complete their bachelor’s degrees on the UW’s Seattle campus. They fund students at different points in their community college careers and may be renewable each year for up to three years of undergraduate support.

Washington Space Grant Consortium

The Washington NASA Space Grant Community College Transfer Scholarships are awarded to promising community college students planning to transfer to the UW to continue their studies in engineering, math, science or technology. Students must be Washington state residents and citizens of the U.S. to be eligible to apply, and they may plan to enter the UW in autumn, winter or spring quarters. Applications are due in June for the following academic year.

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